Just Knock First
by captainpezberry
Summary: Pezberry week on tumblr day 4 theme: celebrity couple. Another sequel to Their Skirts Pushed Up Around Their Waist. Set after their wedding, we catch up with the hottest couple on the planet. How is Santana adjusting to the fame? Is it everything Rachel ever dreamed of? See what happens when Barbra Walters interviews our favorite celebrity couple. completely AU. T for language?


"That's it, we have to move!" Santana yelled out as she slammed her door behind her and stormed into the place she had been sharing with Rachel since they got together two years ago. It was the same huge, spacious loft type apartment with an open kitchen and living room area and the upper level having three rooms in it but at the moment it felt like a box she was trapped in.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked softly, wiping her hands on a towel as she came from the kitchen to greet Santana where the girl was trying to kick off her boots without much success. She could tell she was frustrated and she immediately got worried. "San, sweetie, take a breath and calm down. Here." She slid a stool from the kitchen island over and patted the seat "Let me take your boots off while you tell me what this is all about."

Santana nearly growled at that. She was frustrated and wanted to kick her boots off and make lots of loud angry noises to go along with having thrown her briefcase and ripped off her jacket when she came home. But Rachel was right, like usual, so she rolled her eyes and plopped on stool with her arms folded across her chest. "I swear, we haven't even been back from Greece for a week and they are already swarming. Like moths to a flame!"

"Who?" Rachel asked, still calm, as she knelt before Santana and started to work the zipper and the laces of the boots loose.

"The fricken paps!" Santana motioned to the door before her eyes focused on Rachel. "They are out there all the damn time, waiting. I am sick of it! I can't even get coffee without them pouncing. If I want to check the mail, which is in the lobby of the building mind you, I have to make sure I don't look like the creature from the black lagoon while I do it or else they will snap a picture through the window and I will end up in the damn articles about how scary we all look without make up on! It's the damned morning no one puts on make up to check the mail!"

Rachel stayed quiet for a moment. She listened to everything Santana had to say and managed to get her boots off fairly easily. She even started rubbing the girl's feet while she ranted on. When she finally fell quite and looked to Rachel for a response, Rachel just shrugged. "Our house is almost ready and then we will be rid of them."

"Until they figure out what neighborhood we moved to" Santana mumbled, closing her eyes and letting her head fall to the side to rest on the corner of the wall. "That feels good."

"Did you have a rough day at work?" Rachel asked sweetly, still rubbing Santana's feet.

Santana nodded and stayed quiet for a moment. She let out a heavy sigh then slowly opened her eyes "I get it, the world is obsessed with the rich and famous and they like to live vicariously through us by way of magazines and paparazzi. But I hate that they can get away with invading my home life, too."

"I know" Rachel stood up now, sliding her hands along Santana's legs as she went. She placed her hands on her upper thighs and leaned her weight against them, holding herself up as she leaned in to place a sweet kiss to Santana's lips. "It will die down."

"Yeah right" Santana mumbled, kissing her back softly. "Every opening night, there they will be. Every event you are invited to. Every time we go to anything with celebrities involved. I get that, you know? It's their job to document entertainment events or whatever. But there has to be a way to get them to leave us alone outside of all that. We're normal people."

"We are" Rachel kissed her nose then turned and headed back into the kitchen. "But we just have to deal with it. Until another up and coming star takes Broadway by storm I guess you're stuck dealing with my baggage."

"I didn't say it that way" Santana groaned, sliding off the stool and heading into the kitchen. That was when the scent of the food hit her nose and she smiled. "Are you cooking?"

"Dinner for my wife after a long hard day?" Rachel beamed and bounced up onto her toes "Of course. I told you, we're normal." She stood on her toes and kissed Santana once more "Now go wash up for dinner."

It was always amazing to Santana how easily Rachel calmed her down. She always put her in a better mood no matter what. Even after dating her over two years and now being married just under a month it still amazed her how well Rachel knew her. She really was her perfect match. She forgot all about how annoyed she was at the stupid cameras that were lurking near the lobby of their building.

After sharing a nice dinner, they collapsed on the coach to watch a movie. When she saw Rachel yawn, Santana let out a soft laugh and patted her knee "Alright little one let's get you to bed. Being a good little house wife must have worn you out."

"I can't wait to get back to work. I feel like my stamina is dwindling. I used to rehearse and perform every day for hours on end and now I can barely clean and cook a few hours a day? I am losing it!"

"Your stamina was just fine this morning." Santana mumbled with a smirk on her face as she got off the couch and reached out to offer her hand to Rachel "But if you want, we can test it right now too?"

"Don't hold your breath" Rachel replied with a smirk of her own as she took Santana's hand and got to her feet. "We have to sleep early tonight because we have an early morning tomorrow."

"What?" Santana started to lead them through the house toward the stairs that lead to their bedroom. "Why? You're not due back to the theater for another week and I am not scheduled into my office until after noon."

"No, you don't have to go in tomorrow at all. I moved all your meetings for tomorrow to Thursday."

"What? Why?" Santana's face curled into a frown "You know I hate when you move shit without telling me. Those are really important people I need to meet with!"

"I told you" Rachel remained calm as they headed through their bedroom and into the bathroom. Rachel grabbed her toothbrush and put some paste on it "You just didn't remember and scheduled stuff for tomorrow anyway."

"What is tomorrow?" Santana was getting annoyed now. She stood in the doorway of the bathroom staring at Rachel in the mirror.

Rachel rolled her eyes and spit out the foam that had gathered from brushing her teeth. She pulled all her hair to the side then turned to look at Santana with a shake of her head "Barbra Walters? Ten most fascinating people of the year? It's been set up for months!"

The groan Santana let out was audible on the streets eight stories below, she was sure of it. She turned toward the bed and fell face first into it, throwing a fit at the mention of what was coming tomorrow. She bounced a few times then her body went still. She was praying she was about to suffocate on the sheets that were closing in around her nose and mouth as she drew in breaths.

"Oh don't be a baby" Rachel scolded, turning around to finish what she was doing before heading back into the bedroom and pulling off her clothes before replacing them with a single large tshirt and crawling onto the bed next to Santana. "You agreed to do it."

"That was before I wanted to rip everyone with a camera lens attached to their face a new eye hole." Santana's voice was muffled by the sheets and mattress but it was still easily heard.

"She's not paparazzi she is a journalist." Rachel rolled her eyes and reached out to push Santana until she rolled onto her back. Once she finally managed to do so, albeit a stiff as a board Santana, she started to undo her belt to work her out of her jeans so she could change into something to sleep in. "It's going to be us, here, in our home just answering questions about our life, careers, and each other. Nothing over the top and cheesy. She just wants a peek into the life Broadway's hottest couple."

"So does everyone else" Santana grumbled before sitting up and tossing her shirt across the room. She kicked off her jeans, which Rachel had gotten down to her knees, then stood up and flung off her bra. She pulled on an old hoodie she found lying on the floor then sat back onto the bed with a huff. "You know I love you and you know I'm proud of you but I never wanted to be stalked or interviewed. I just wanted to love and be loved by the most amazing girl in the world."

"This amazing girl is also a star" Rachel used a finger to boop Santana on the nose, which Santana immediately scowled at, before shrugging and adjusting on the bed to lay down. "It will be fun! Besides, it's Barbra Walters! The girl is a legend."

"I was a legend once. Now I'm arm candy to miss popular." Santana went cross eyed, curled up her lip, and scrunched her nose all in a mocking and sarcastic gesture.

"Missus" Rachel corrected, lifting her hand to show off her wedding ring before she turned to click the lamp off over her shoulder. "Now go to bed, grumpy pants. And if you aren't on your best behavior tomorrow I'll divorce you."

"How fascinating" Santana replied in a high pitched mock tone, even adding a lisp to prove her point. She was not looking forward to this, at all.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Santana will you stop it" Rachel hissed softly before turning her head forward again and closing her eyes to let the make-up artist finish.

"My hair is fine" Santana grumbled, batting away a hand as it tried to fix a stray curl.

"They are just doing their job!" Rachel scolded then opened her eyes and looked at the man working on her lipstick "I am so sorry for her."

"It happens more than you think, miss Berry."

"You can call me Rachel. And it's only Berry for show business. Legally it's Berry-Lopez. I might actually incorporate it once we've been married longer and I get a new show. What do you think?"

The man glanced at Santana still fussing and trying to escape the hair stylist's clutches before nodding and looking at Rachel "Good idea. I think your wife will like that."

"I think so too" Rachel glanced at Santana a moment then rolled her eyes "Babe, please. Just let her touch you up!"

Santana opened her mouth to argue but Barbra Walters entered the room at that moment so she stopped herself from snapping. She just gave the prestigious woman a warm smile and sat back to let the girl playing with her hair finish.

"Are we excited ladies?" Barbra said with a smile, moving over to Rachel and extending her hand. "It's such a pleasure to meet you finally. I have been a fan since your first show with Miss Nickels."

"You are too kind. I am honored" Rachel sounded very diplomatic, very professional. Santana had to hold back a laugh. She wasn't sure she could be this polite the whole interview.

"And Miss Lopez" Barbra turned her attention to Santana now, holding out her hand for her to shake it "Rachel has told me so much about you. You're quite a star yourself in your own right. I can't wait to delve into the intricacies of your business."

"Can't wait" Santana mumbled through a forced smile. This was actual Hell for her, she was sure of it.

"Well Ladies I am going to go get my face on and we will set up the cameras and be on our way!" She gave the girls a smile and wave before being ushered into the kitchen to be pampered and made up.

"Santana be nice" Rachel scolded "Whether you like it or not this is your life now. You knew this before you said I do so suck it up."

Santana let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes to let the girl apply some eyeshadow. Rachel was right. Before they got married Rachel was already a celebrity. It was a package deal and they should have known it would have only gotten worse after the wedding of the year but she hadn't been prepared for this. It was only fair, though, to put on a nice face and get through this for her wife. She smiled at that thought. It still tickled her to think of her as her wife.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Alright now ladies, here's how this works. We are just going to be sitting here, chatting, as if we are old friends. I want you two to be completely relaxed. You are in your home, with one another, so there is no reason to act too formal. I want you to be as candid with each other, and me for that matter, as you please."

Santana opened her mouth to ask something but Rachel quickly reached over and put her hand on her knee and gave it a squeeze, cutting her off and giving Barbra a smile "This will be fun. I am excited."

Santana glared at Rachel then turned her hand over and laced their fingers together. She was going to be a good sport about this. She was going to put on a smile and behave. This was Rachel's thing, her dream, and being a part of it was what Santana wanted most, so now was her time to embrace it.

They were all sitting in the living room of the loft. The large windows in the background lit them all perfectly. They were on the couch together and Barbra had brought her own chair to sit in but had managed to match it to their furniture so it looked natural.

"I am here with what the world is calling the hottest couple on the planet right now. You might know one from her Tony winning performances in _Evita _and the original play _The Great Sashay_ which she is currently on break from to enjoy being a newlywed. Miss Rachel Berry. Rachel, how are you today?"

Rachel glanced at Barbra and put on her best show face smile and nodded "It's such a pleasure to have you here in our home this morning. We were so excited we could hardly sleep last night."

"That makes three of us" Barbra smiled then turned back to look at the camera. "Although she was not originally in the spotlight, her work has taken off and gained major business headlines as of late. She has made a name of herself outside of being Rachel's girlfriend, and now wife. Santana Lopez." She turned and offered a hand for Santana to shake.

"Thanks, Barbra" Santana shook her hand politely. "I am so glad to finally meet you. I grew up watching you."

"The pleasure is all mine. Enough about me. Tell the world, for those who might not know, how did you two meet?"

Santana and Rachel glanced at each other and Rachel dipped her head a little. Santana let out a soft laugh and smiled at the memory "I've known people in the theater industry for years. One of my best friends growing up was starring in a play that Rachel had a bit part in." Santana glanced at her wife again and gave her hand a soft squeeze "I was backstage one night bringing flowers to my friend and that's when I saw her. The moment I laid eyes on her I knew I had to have her."

Barbra smiled then looked at Rachel "Did you feel the same way for her?"

"I despised Santana when we first met" Both Rachel and Santana let out a loud laugh at that. Santana nodded and let go of her hand, lifting her arm and sliding it over the back of the couch and laying her hand on Rachel's shoulder. "I didn't want anything to do with her."

"Why not?" Barbra asked, leaning on her hand, obviously intrigued now. Not a lot of the details of their relationship had ever been told to the public so this was all new stuff.

The girls shared a look and Santana could tell Rachel didn't want to say it. So she cleared her throat and shrugged "I didn't have the best reputation back then. I guess I was what you would call a player."

Barbra nodded then shifted her attention to Santana "When you met Rachel did that all go away? Did you instantly want to change?"

Santana let out another soft laugh and turned to look at Rachel again. She stared at her for a moment before Rachel looked up and their eyes met. She felt her heart fluttered and she nodded very softly before looking back at Barbra "I knew if I ever wanted the chance for this girl to even look my way I had to change."

"That's not true" Rachel said softly, forgetting for the moment now that they weren't alone. "I was interested from the get go. I mean, I hated who I was told you were and I hated the way you went about things at first, but I was always interested. You had me from the first time I saw you, too."

"Really?" Santana asked with a soft expression of awe on her face. "I didn't know that."

Rachel just shrugged and reached back to put her hand over Santana's hand where it was resting on her shoulder "I was just being cautious but it was always you on my mind. I think that's what I hated most about you. You could just walk by and smile and I was consumed in that moment. It was scary. But the more I got to know you the more I realized that a person isn't always as bad as their reputation."

"Nicely put." Santana said, sliding her fingers through Rachel's before glancing at Barbra now, suddenly realizing that was all on camera. She blushed a little bit but hid it by looking down at her lap.

"It's really beautiful" Barbra said after a moment "How at ease you are with one another. You seem to just fit together so elegantly. It feels as if you've known each other your entire lives."

"I feel that way sometimes." Rachel said with a nod, glancing at her wife with a smile.

"Me too" Santana whispered, lifting her eyes now to the older woman.

Barbra nodded then straightened up a bit "So you went from butting heads to falling in love. How did that happen?"

"She injured me" Rachel said quickly, which caused the girls to both laugh loudly again and thankfully lightened the mood in the room a bit.

"I didn't do it on purpose! And it wasn't even me, it was my door knob."

"I'm guessing you are referring to the broken ribs you suffered that had you missing your play for several weeks?" Barbra glanced at a paper being held up behind her, a sort of cue card to help her with little facts throughout the interview.

"Yes" Rachel nodded "I told everyone I was dropped in workshops for a new play I was working on but in reality it was here. I don't even remember what we were doing but I ended up startled or something and tried to turn to leave and ended up ramming myself into her doorknob."

"I remember" Santana said with a laugh. The two of them shared a look and silently read each other's faces for a moment. Santana arched an eyebrow and nodded a few times, trying to tell her what had been going on without having to say it.

When Rachel finally remembered that she had walked in on Santana with another woman, she blushed and let out a laugh "Oh yeah. No, that was bad news. Not Santana's fault, mind you. My own klutzy fault."

"What was it?" Barbra looked between the girls curiously.

Rachel shook her head quickly but Santana spoke "I was being a jerk." She shrugged a little "It was before we even got together but I was still a jerk."

The girls shared a glance and Rachel turned her head to kiss Santana's fingers where she still held them at her shoulder "All is forgiven, though. Nothing a few weeks can't heal."

"So to say your love has been a fairy tale love story would be a misstatement?"

"Are any loves really fairy tales?" Santana asked with a shake of her head. "I mean, come on, those movies are written for children to give them warm fuzzies and false hope of reality. No one ever falls in love like that. Hell most people can't even fall in love. Fairy tales aren't what we should aim for. What fills our heart to the brim with happiness and joy every day, that is what we should aim for."

"So romantic" Rachel whispered, giving Santana a soft nudge and leaning into her closer.

"Beautiful" Barbra said with a sweet smile on her face. "I love how you two are together, so natural. You can tell you aren't putting on a show for the cameras. You are very much in love, you can feel it coming from you."

"Thank you" Rachel said again softly.

"Well we did just come back from our honeymoon so it might be that" Santana joked, which got all of them laughing.

"Speaking of, tell us about that. How was Greece?"

"Amazing!" Rachel lit up like a Christmas tree at the mention of it. "So beautiful, pictures can't do it justice. And it was so peaceful there. I can imagine living there one day, owning a little bakery or something like that. It would be nice."

"Maybe when you're done being a star, babe." Santana kissed the side of her head lightly.

"Speaking of, are you excited to get back to work next week? The cast says they miss you."

"And I miss them!" Rachel said with a soft pout "I've worked with them now nearly eight months and it's amazing how quickly they've become like family to me. I can't wait. I have another four months on my contract with them and I am hoping they like me enough to keep me a bit longer."

"They would be stupid not to" Barbra gave her a genuine smile then turned to Santana. "A lot of people might think you have found fame and success through Rachel. So this is your chance, tell us what you do and how it all got started Santana."

Santana let out a laugh at that and shook her head "Oh I totally only got with Rachel for the exposure." She looked at Rachel who swatted her arm playfully then shook rolled her eyes "No, actually, I had a pretty successful business before I met Rachel, believe it or not. A friend of mine from way back came to me with a proposition and I looked into it and liked it. We started a small business recovery program where we would go in and help small and struggling business get back on their feet through marketing and making over their look and logos and re-adjusting their strategies. From there it just kind of flourished. By the time I met Rachel we were in the business of buying out small businesses who were going bankrupt and making them our own. We would keep all employees and even the previous owners on our staff but we were completely in charge."

Santana glanced at Rachel and shrugged then looked back at Barbra "Now we are focusing on building a reliable business, a reliable name in small struggling communities, and handing over control to new owners. They don't pay us upfront. They own the business and run it with our business goals and they keep whatever profit they make for a year. After a year, they only have to pay us ten percent of their profit."

"That's very generous of you" Barbra said softly.

Rachel smiled and leaned in to kiss Santana's shoulder lightly "I am so proud of her."

Santana just shrugged humbly and looked back at the older woman "The business world is tough and sometimes all a small business needs to succeed is the belief and trust. We've helped a lot of families make a better life for their loved ones and their communities. That's more of a payment and a success than all the money and fame in the world combined."

Barbra nodded softly and reached out, putting a hand on Santana's knee. "I see why Rachel fell for you." Santana gave the woman a nod then shrugged again, really wishing the attention was off her now.

Sensing this, Rachel cleared her throat "Are you hitting on my wife?"

All three of the girls laughed and the mood was lightened again. "Moving on. The world wants to know one thing. Now that you are a successful Broadway star" She motioned to Rachel "and a powerful business woman" She nodded to Santana "and have tied the knot there is only one thing left to do. How about kids?"

Rachel and Santana both looked at each other with wide eyes and then turned and shook their heads, both softly laughing "No we're not there yet." Rachel said softly.

"Maybe in a few years" Santana said with a nod, pulling her arm around Rachel tightly. "But we're just enjoying each other and our little successes right now."

Barbra laughed softly and nodded in surrender "Fair enough ladies. But when that time comes can we expect one, or maybe both of you, walking a red carpet with a baby bump or will you adopt?"

The girls looked at each other again and both of them shrugged at the same time. They looked back at Barbra and Rachel giggled "We will have to cross that bridge when we come to it but we aren't against either of those ideas."

"I have to say, though, Rach would look smoking with a baby belly don't you think?" Santana reached over and patted Rachel's stomach playfully, which got a high pitched giggle out of the girl.

Barbra laughed and nodded in agreement "I think you'd both rock any look you set your mind to." She turned to face the camera now "That is all the time we have for today. I have had a wonderful time meeting and getting to know two of the hottest faces in circulation right now. Rachel, Santana" She turned and shook each girl's hand in respective order "Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to talk to me."

"It was no big deal" Santana said with a shrug.

"Yeah" Rachel said, glancing at Santana with a grin and feeling the over whelming urge to kiss her. She was so proud of her today. "Come back anytime."

"Just knock first" Santana said with a smirk.

This time Barbra blushed and she turned back to the camera "This is Barbra Walters with the Berry-Lopez's and these are some of the most fascinating people of the year."

After a few more handshakes and goodbyes, the crew cleaned up and they were gone almost as quickly as they had come. By the time they had cleared out it was nearly time for dinner. Santana let out a heavy sigh and plopped on the couch, landing on her back with a soft bounce. She rubbed at her eyes until her stomach growled and she let out a laugh. "Do you want to order some pizza, babe?"

Rachel stood behind the couch, leaning over and looking down at her wife with a smile "Only if we can eat it in bed."

Santana opened her eyes and looked up at the girl with a grin. She perked an eyebrow at her and bit her bottom lip, giving her a curious look, as if silently asking if that meant what she thought it meant.

Rachel nodded slowly, very slowly, licking her lips and crinkling her nose with a giggle, confirming that she was thinking the right thing. "You earned it. I am so proud of how you acted today. It makes being your wife my greatest accomplishment."

"I did it for you" Santana whispered, sitting up on the couch now. She reached up and scooped her hand behind her head, pulling it down until their lips could meet. After a soft but deep lingering kiss that lasted a few moments, she pulled back and used her nose to nudge Rachel's chin gently "I love you, Rachel. Everything I do is to make you happy."

"Lucky for you all you have to do is breathe for that to happen." She placed a kiss to her lips then slipped out of her grip. She grabbed the bottom of her shirt and started to back toward the steps "Now hurry up and order that pizza. Dessert is waiting." With that, Rachel pulled off her shirt, tossed it over Santana's head, and headed up the steps toward their bedroom.


End file.
